调戏 – The literal meaning would be "tease". In some context, it could be taken as "sexual harassment" or "molestation".
"Second mistress, please seek justice for us! Do you see how badly injured his face is? That idiot was too ruthless!" The next morning at dawn, Li Laosi and his wife went to the second mistress' room to complain about Ye Kong's "cruelty".
"You got beaten up by the idiot?" The second mistress could not contain her laughter and laughed. She pointed towards the kneeling Li Laosi and scolded, "How useless could you be? If he hits you, hit him back. Why are you coming here to complain to me?"
"That's not it, second mistress." Li Laosi quickly explained, "That idiot is no longer an idiot. He speaks fluently now and doesn't hold back when hitting people. He's totally different from the idiot from before that only knows how to grin. From what his mother said, he suddenly recovered after sleeping."
"No way." The second mistress found it difficult to believe that Ye Kong had recovered. She asked, "He's been an idiot for over 10 years, is it really possible for an idiot to suddenly recover?"
"I found it hard to believe as well, but he's completely recovered now." Li Laosi placed his hand on his injured forehead and said, "Second mistress, you need to seek justice for us! All I tried to do was to stop them from making a disturbance at night, and got beaten up for that!"
Li Laosi was obviously not going to mention that he went to extort money from them. On the contrary, in order to anger her, he said, "That ugly woman didn't even try to stop her son's violent actions. She knew that I was your loyal servant, but still let it happened. She obviously looks down on you."
The second mistress was someone who cared very much about her pride. After hearing Li Laosi's words, she was slightly angered. However, she was not stupid either. The second mistress knew Chen Jiuniang's personality very well and knew that she was not the type to step over the line. Besides, she still found it hard to believe that Ye Kong had recovered.
"I will form my own judgement on this. You may leave. Oh and collect 2 ounces of silver from the treasurer to seek medical treatment." The second mistress said after pondering for a moment.
When Lao Lisi's wife heard that they could get money, she was secretly happy.
Idiot, be prepared to be driven out of the Ye manor! She thought fiercely. She kowtowed to the second mistress and said, "Thank you, second mistress."
"Thank you, second mistress." Li Laosi kowtowed as well and followed after his wife.
"The idiot is no longer an idiot and even knows how to hit people." The second mistress thought for a moment and then called out, "Xiaohong1!"
"Second mistress, I am here." Xiaohong was her maidservant. She was only 15 years old, but already possessed a womanly figure. More importantly, she was clever and capable.
"You heard what he said. What do you think?" The second mistress asked.
"I am having a hard time believing what he said. The idiot that I know only grins foolishly and doesn't even know how to dodge when people throw rocks at him. I think it's more likely that Li Laosi failed to extort Chen Jiuniang, and it just so happened that he fell down and injured himself. He then took the story and ran with it." Xiaohong quickly displayed her cleverness by deducing a more probable situation.
The second mistress nodded as she thought that Xiaohong's deduction was more believable. However, she also felt that Li Laosi did not dare to deceive her. Hence, she said, "I want you to go to the ugly woman's place and check whether the idiot has really recovered."
"Understood." Xiaohong quickly departed after she received her orders.
After Xiaohong left, the second mistress snorted, "Whether or not it's true, I'll use this opportunity to drive that ugly woman out. How dare she even dream of staying here when she's so ugly, she's the disgrace of the Ye manor!"
At the moment, Ye Kong was lying on top of Chen Jiuniang's bed in a stupor. He was so tired after last night that he actually fell asleep while talking to his new mother. However, he managed to obtain useful information while chatting with her. He found out that the continent favoured martial arts over literary arts. If he wanted to succeed, he would need to follow in the footsteps of his father and learn martial arts. Only after he possess a certain amount of skill, would he be able to join the military and become someone respectable.
Ye Kong also tried to ask her about the population number of the continent, whether there was any continents other than the continent of CangNan and whether there were any immortals etc. As for these questions, Chen Jiuniang was unable to answer them. After all, she was not knowledgeable and her embroidery work at the manor took up most of her time. She did not know much about the country itself, let alone the situation outside.
However, she had heard of immortals. There was someone that had seen an immortal flying over the city. According to what everyone said, immortals exist. As for how many or where they were, it was not something she could have known.
When Ye Kong woke up in the morning, he started pondering while lying in bed. He knew that in order to survive in a world where the fittest survive, he had to obtain strength. Only then, would he be able to succeed, otherwise he would only be the plaything of others.
Although his father was a general, Ye Kong felt that he could not rely on him. Besides, he disliked depending on others or leaving his fate to them. He realized that the only path available for him was to become strong.
On Earth, although Ye Kong was used to fighting, he had never learn any martial arts before. He fought only with his courage and fierceness, and was not a match for someone who knew martial arts. He tried to think of his other abilities, but soon realized that he had no other abilities. He did not know how to make soap or create firearms. He had no literary skills to speak of and his fighting ability was nothing compared to someone like Ye Haoran.
It was the first time that he discovered that he was useless. He was almost no different from an idiot.
How do I become stronger?
Chen Jiuniang, who was sitting nearby, worked on her embroidery while she observed her son.
She was worried that her son's idiocy would relapse after sleeping.
Her worries were not unfounded. After he woke up, all he did was stare at the ceiling. He had been staring at it for the past half an hour and his eyes seemed to be losing focus. Could it be that he was turning into an idiot again?
Her son was her only hope. She did not want to see that glimmer of hope disappear.
Just when Chen Jiuniang was about to call out to her son, Ye Kong suddenly sat up and shouted, "I can only become stronger by studying and training!"
His sudden shout surprised her and she accidentally pricked herself with the needle. A droplet of blood oozed out of the wound.
"Ouch." Chen Jiuniang cried out.
Ye Kong got off the bed, he grabbed her hand and stucked it into his mouth.
"Mother, it's fine now." When he removed her finger from his mouth, the bleeding had stopped.
"Not only have you recovered, you've also become thoughtful." Chen Jiuniang smiled fondly at her son.
Ye Kong grew up on Earth as an orphan. He had never experienced maternal love before. The way his mother looked at him made him feel embarrassed.
"Stop looking at me, what's there to see? You've been looking at me since just now." Ye Kong complained.
"I won't look. I won't look." Chen Jiuniang smile while saying, with her eyes still locked on to her son.
"I am going to the latrine1." Finally, Ye Kong could not stand it anymore, he quickly escaped.
The latrine was not far, Ye Kong knew where it was since he went last night.
(TN: Oh, the horrors! How would a modern man react to a latrine?!)
As a former thug, Ye Kong was used to walking with a swagger. The few maidservants he ran into on the way gave him weird looks when he went past.
"Look, that's Ye Kong the idiot. Although he's the general's son, his social standing is ever lower than a servant." A manservant said while pointing at Ye Kong.
Another manservant, that looked like new, whispered back, "I don't think he resembles an idiot though?"
"What do you mean? He's an idiot. He's always foolishly grinning."
"Oh." The new manservant nodded while staring at Ye Kong's back.
"The young masters even thought of a jingle: Ye Kong Ye Kong, Nao Dai Kong Kong3." Thinking that the new manservant did not believe him, the old manservant continued, "The other day, we even threw rocks at him, I can show it to you right now!"
Originally, Ye Kong pretended that he did not hear them. However, when he heard the manservant wanted to throw a rock at him, he flew into a rage. Fuck his ancestor's tablet. What did I do to offend you? Is it a sin to be an idiot? Don't you people know that you should protect the vulnerable?
"Who's going to hit me?" Ye Kong grabbed a nearby flower pot and walked towards them.
"Were you the one?" With the flower pot in one hand, Ye Kong used his other hand to poke the manservant in the chest.
The old manservant was surprised, How is the idiot speaking so normally? However, he did not have the time to consider that much. The problem was that the rock in his hand was not a match for Ye Kong's flower pot.
"It wasn't me." The older manservant quickly passed the rock to the newer manservant.
"Then it must be you!" Ye Kong arrogantly turned towards the newer manservant and poked him as well.
"N-no, it wasn't me. I-it's him…"
Before the newer manservant could finish, the older manservant turned around and fled. When he saw this, he quickly followed as well.
"Fuck, what a bunch of cowards. Didn't you want to throw rocks at me?" Ye Kong snorted in disgust and threw the pot away.
However, from a distance away, the two manservant who heard the pot breaking, shouted in fear, "The idiot is rampaging! The idiot is rampaging!"
"Fuck, it sure is difficult to get rid of my title as an idiot." Ye Kong could only smile bitterly and shook his head. He continue heading towards the latrine.
If you smile at others, you're an idiot. If you hit others, you're an idiot. One is a literary madman, the other is a martial madman, both are madmen."
Treated as a madman, Ye Kong was displeased. He thought, Since I am a madman, then I'll stay mad till the end.
Unlike the previous night, the trip to the latrine was not as peaceful. Along the way, he met quite a number of servants. Towards those servants, he gave them all the cold-shoulder. As for those servants that did not know any better, he intimidated them with flower pots.
It was unexpectedly effective. Soon, all of the servants avoided him like the plague.
However, there were those who were not afraid. A beautiful maidservant tried to approach him. When she sneaked a peek at him, she realized Ye Kong was staring at her.
Hoho! This little maidservant actually met my eyes! Ye Kong was even more displeased. Back when he was at Hanzheng street, people would avoid his gaze and quickly pass by with their heads lowered.
Ye Kong glared angrily and walked towards her. When the maidservant saw this, she got frightened and quickly ran off.
Then, she heard Ye Kong's voice coming from behind, "Beautiful lady, don't be so quick to run off. How old are you? Are you married? How many sweethearts do you have? Why don't we sit down and have a nice talk about our future?"
"Scumbag! Moron!"
From the backyards of the general's manor, a woman's voice could be heard.
Even though they were both Ye Haoran's women, the difference was like heaven and earth. It was a meticulously decorated and luxurious room of a woman, and it was several times better compared to Chen Jiuniang's room. Even so, someone felt that it was not enough. She would not be satisfied until she drove Chen Jiuniang out of the manor, she did not even want to leave her a place of refuge. The only reason was that Chen Jiuniang's ugliness made her uncomfortable.
The second mistress was dressed in silk satin and had gaudy makeup on. She exuded the presence of a rich lady. She was currently throwing a tantrum.
"That ugly woman is really looking down on me! That bastard son of her as well! How dare he even dare to tease my maidservant!"
The maidservant that was frightened off by Ye Kong was standing in front of her.She was the Xiaohong that the second mistress had sent to investigate Ye Kong. The reason why she dared to meet Ye Kong's gaze was because she had the backing of the second mistress.
"Second mistress, please calm down. It's not worth it getting angry over someone like that." Xiaohong was the second mistress' favourite for a reason.
"That's right, mother. What's the point of getting angry over an idiot? Have a cup of tea instead." Ye Wen4 chimed in as well.
Ye Wen was the athletic-looking sixteen year old son of the second mistress. He might look like a boor but was a sly person. He practiced martial arts under the guidance of famous teachers, and had obtained a small amount of success with his Cangnan Tongbi Fist5. He stood out amongst the younger generation in the Ye family.
"Hmm." The second mistress received the ginseng tea that Ye Wen passed over and took a sip.
After drinking the ginseng tea, she finally calmed down. She said, "If that brat knows how to tease my maidservant, then he probably really has recovered."
"That's right, he was quite fluent as well." Xiaohong nodded her head.
Ye Wen, who stood nearby, was actually in a bad mood. Even I, haven't gotten the chance to tease Xiaohong. Fuck, she actually got teased by that idiot.
"Mother, we need to teach that idiot a lesson. Who cares if he really is an idiot, I want him to suffer!" Ye Wen's eyes glinted dangerously.
"Hmm, yes, but I need a better excuse." The second mistress pondered a while, and said, "I called over Li Laosi and questioned him again. Since his wife wasn't here, he told me the truth. He only got beaten because he tried to extort them. If we try to use this as the reason to get rid of them, if your father asks about this, we won't be able to answer to him…"
"What's the point of reasoning with an idiot? I think it would be a better idea to beat him up, that would definitely shut him up!" Ye Wen folded his arms, and snorted, "It's not like I haven't do it before."
The second mistress shook her head, "Don't be reckless. According to Li Laosi, not only is he no longer an idiot, he's also far more shrewd. Don't give him a chance to create trouble for us."
Ye Wen laughed and said, "Then I have an idea! It'll be fine even if I teach him a lesson in front of dad!"
The second mistress' eyes lit up, "Tell me."
Ye Wen put his mouth next to her ear and started whispering. After a while, the second mistress grinned and nodded her head.
1 – 小红 = Xiaohong, 小 = little, 红 = red.
2 – 茅房 = Latrine. In some parts of China, people still don't have access to proper toilets. It's typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet.
3 – 叶空叶空,脑袋空空 = Ye Kong Ye Kong, Nao Dai Kong Kong; 脑袋 = Head, 空 = Empty.
4 – 叶文 = Ye Wen
5 – 南沧通臂拳 = Cangnan Tongbi Fist